Future to Behold
by BobbertCanuck
Summary: Link and Malon find themselves in the distant future where things aren't as nice as they thought it would be. Now while trying to save the troubled future, they try to get back to the past where they belong. Currently chipping away at writers block. [Malink] (In process of a re-write)
1. Prologue

_This is my first fanfic so constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated._

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Legend Of Zelda franchise or its characters. The only thing I own is the thought and Imagination I put into this story.

* * *

**Prologue**

* * *

Thud!

There he was again. On the ground. Hit in the gut by the blunt end of a pitchfork.

_"at least it isn't the sharp end"_ he thought.

"Link." she stared down to him, her auburn hair blown about by the wind, "If you're going to defeat Ganondorf, then you're going to have to try harder!"

It had been a few days ago that he told Malon about going to fight Ganondorf. He regretted the decision ever since. Malon had been relentless with the training. Usually after one leg of his journey was completed, he would visit the ranch and stay for a week to rest up for the next leg of the journey, but not this time.

This time, after he told her what he'd have to do next, She decided to help him 'train' up for his fight with Ganondorf, and she had been ruthless with the training.

This however, was his least favourite bit of training, only because he kept getting knocked down.

"Come on Link," she said with her arm extended to help him up, "Let's try one more time, and then we'll take a break."

That was enough motivation for another try. He got up and had his shield ready.

"you ready?" she asked, Link nodded, "good, now remember, dodge the 'spear'." she said "Oh and try not to hit me." she added, remembering when Link accidentally hit her with his shield the other day when they were training. Her hand was still a bit sore from the slap she gave him afterwards.

They stood in front of each other, quiet, Link waiting for her to make the first move. Malon, without much warning, thrust the 'spear' forward, Ling dodged to the side. She swiped it low, to catch his legs and knock him over, he jumped over it. They continued to fight in this fashion for a bit. Eventually, Malon showed signs of weariness. Link saw this, so he started to jump around and try to make it harder for her in hopes that she would give up. She saw this and waited for the perfect moment.

Whack!

She had hit Link, square in the gut. Within seconds he was on the ground again.

"I think that's enough for today." she sighed. She helped him up and they walked into the farmhouse.

* * *

Link rubbed his eyes the next morning. Supper last night was horrible. The food wasn't the bad part. The bad part was Malon, giving him tips as on his defensive stance.

"_Since when was she such an expert?"_ he sulked to himself while getting dressed.

"_I'm the one going out into the world killing dangerous monsters!"_

Needless to say, his mood wasn't the best.

He walked downstairs and saw that a plate of pancakes and sausage had been set for him. It appeared that everyone else had already eaten and left.

"_At least there is still breakfast."_ he thought as he was digging into the plate of cold food.

After he finished eating, he washed the dishes. He then got his gear and prepared for the inevitable. For the past few days of 'training', the day started off with an ambush. The first time we didn't expect it, the next time his preparations were to no avail, but this time would be different, he was taking no chances. With shield at the ready, he opened the door. Nothing happened. He looked out in both directions before stepping outside. Nothing happened. He drew his sword and readied for an attack from behind. Once again, nothing happened.

"if yer lookin' fer Malon," A gruff voice said, it was Talon, "She's packin' the waggon fer a trip up to Kakariko."

"Thanks." He replied as he darted off towards the barn.

* * *

Link hid behind the waggon. He was going to attempt an ambush on Malon. He peered around and saw that her back was turned. He snuck up behind her and...

"Gotcha!" He said with his arms around her.

He spun her around.

"Ah crap, a scarecrow."

"Gotcha!" Malon repeated, her arms wrapped around Link's waist.

"How did you notice me?" Link asked.

"You're not exactly quiet with all that gear you have on y'know." she giggled.

She then realized that her arms were still around Link's waist and she pulled them away quickly.

"Where you going?" Link asked, knowing the answer already.

"Kakariko, do you wanna come?"

"Sure." Link smiled.

They finished packing the waggon and headed out for Kakariko.

Link still had a few questions, but he felt that it would be better to ask them later.

* * *

_Authors note:_

_As stated before, constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated. The first chapter is in the works and should be up soon. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this._


	2. Chapter I: Thoughts

_The first chapter. Not much else to say..._

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Legend Of Zelda franchise or its characters, but my ideas are still my ideas, so there.

* * *

**Chapter I: Thoughts**

* * *

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, birds were singing, and bees were flying about the flowers collecting nectar. Things were so much nicer now that Link had trounced most of Ganondorf's minions. Now the only cloud of darkness left hung over Hyrule Castle. It floated there as a constant reminder of Link's quest.

Link just looked at it and scowled. "_Stupid, Ganondorf."_He thought.

Link had blamed Ganondorf for loosing seven years of his life.

"_If it wasn't for him,"_he thought, "_I wouldn't be on this stupid quest."_

Then, another thought struck his mind. "_If I wasn't on this stupid quest, I might not have met Malon."_

Link frowned at the thought of not knowing Malon. Frankly, he couldn't think of what his life would be like without Malon in it. He had shown up at the ranch many times, beaten, bloodied, and broken, and every time he was greeted by her beautiful auburn hair and her gorgeous deep blue eyes.

He liked Malon, but he always chickened out when he tried to tell her.

"_Hey, Malon I... wonder if it will rain tomorrow."_was his most recent failure.

In spite of him having the Triforce of courage, he wasn't very courageous when it came to telling Malon his feelings.

"Link, is something wrong?"

This broke Link's train on thought.

"Me, oh, I'm fine. Don't worry" he said, forcing a smile.

She knew he wasn't fine and that something was bothering him.

"Okay then." She replied.

She knew that it would be pointless to pursue her worries. Every time she tried, it would only get as far as "_Oh, I'm, fine. Don't worry."_ and no farther. He would always go back to that. She didn't like it when he hid things from her, especially when the things he didn't hide from her were the inner most details of his adventure. Things that would normally have 'classified' written all over them. She knew all about the sacred realm, the sages, the great faeries, what Impa's favourite colour was, everything. Hell, he even told her that Sheik was actually Zelda!

But he would never tell her if anything was wrong, aside from physical injuries that is. She just wished that he would be more open with his feelings.

* * *

It wasn't long before they made it to Kakariko village. Link helped Malon make the deliveries. It was much faster with two people. They finished ahead of schedule.

"What time is it?" Malon asked.

"I don't know," replied Link, "Let's ask that guy."

They walked over to a member of the Kakariko Town Militia.

"What time is it?"

The militiaman groaned and looked at him dryly. "Ding dong, ding dong," he started in a board, monotone voice, "I'm a clock soldier of Kakariko. The current time is 10:03"

"Thank you." Link said, and he and Malon walked off, towards the waggon.

* * *

"Boy, that guy was pleasant, wasn't he?" She asked sarcastically.

"Oh yeah. Definitely a people person."

They both laughed.

"So... we have some time to kill... what do you want to do?" Malon asked, leaning against the waggon.

"I don't know about you," he replied laying down on the ground, "but I'm going to relax."

"I think I'll join you." she said laying down next to him.

It was peaceful, the air was warm and the breeze was nice. They laid there peacefully, just looking into the skies and watching the clouds. It was quiet, but not the quiet that was between them on the waggon ride, this quiet was not awkward.

Nevertheless, neither one could stop thinking about the other, and they both had no idea about the other's true feelings.

Link eventually came to the thought that maybe he should try again to tell Malon how he feels.

"_Here goes failed attempt number... thirty-five? Yeah, thirty-five sounds about right..."_

"Hey, Malon..." he started, she looked at him, "I..." he seized up, "I... uh... do you... uh..." he was petrified. He couldn't say a single word. Luckily he was saved by Navi waking up.

She fluttered out from under Link's hat.

"Morning," she yawned, "did I miss anything?"

"Nothing at all." Link replied.

"We're just watching the clouds." Malon added.

"Sounds fun." Navi said as she laid down on Link's chest and joined in the activity.

Once again, it was quiet. Peaceful. Then Navi started to hum a song.

"That sounds pretty," Malon said, "What is it?"

"Song of Time," Navi replied, "Link has to play it sometimes."

"Hm... does it do anything special like your other songs?"

"Well... that depends..."

"On what?"

"On the situation. It does different things depending on what's around you."

"Does that mean that it isn't safe to play?"

Link thought for a moment.

"_Surely it can't do anything out here in the field... or could it?"_

"I guess it can't do any harm out here..." he said after a bit more thought.

He pulled out his Ocarina.

"I have a bad feeling about this."Navi sighed.

Link played the song...

Nothing happened.

"Bravo!" Malon said while clapping.

It appeared that the song had no affect... or did it.

The song started to echo around them on the wind.

"Link, what's happening?" Malon said nervously, looking progressively more worried.

"Not sure." Link replied nervously.

He wrapped his arm around Malon's shoulder, more for himself than for her.

Their vision went white and all they could hear was the song of time. Then everything went dark, and silent...

* * *

Authors note:

"Oh my, what is going to happen?" he teased knowingly. Hope you enjoyed this, and I'm looking forward to the reviews.

Constructive Criticism is always valued.


	3. Chapter II: Answers and Questions

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Legend Of Zelda franchise or its characters, but y'know, this story was my idea...

* * *

**Chapter II: Answersand Questions**

* * *

_Thud!_

_Link, hits the ground, bruised and beaten. He looks to his left, a man, middle-aged, lay beside him, short auburn hair with white streaks, thick sideburns, and a small beard on his chin. The man is out cold, still grasping and odd weapon in his hand. It is mostly metal but has a wooden stock, much like a crossbow. A shadowy figure looms above Link._

"_You are a fool to think you could fight me boy."_

_Link gets up, his sword at the ready._

"_Foolish boy," the figure laughs, "you don't know when to give up, do you?"_

_Link runs and tries to jump-slash him. He moves._

"_Now now, continue to do that and your friend may get hurt." he said, gesturing towards Link's right. It was Malon, being held back by two soldiers._

"_Link!"_

"_Malon!"_

"_Aw... isn't that sweet. You miss each other."_

"_Let her go you monster!"_

"_Very well, I've no need of her anymore anyway. Let her go."_

_They let her go, she ran towards Link, and Link to her._

"_Kill her..."_

_The guards raised their weapons, they looked like the man's weapon._

"_Malon!"_

"_Link-"_

_Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!_

* * *

"No!" Link yelled.

He sat up and looked around him, it was just a dream, a bad one. Then, he noticed something. He was in a bed, in a room.

"You okay?" a sweet voice came from the doorway.

"Yeah, just a bad dream." he said looking at Malon, who was standing in the doorway.

She walks over to the bed and sits down next to Link.

He looked around the room again.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"Lon Lon Ranch" an aged voice replied.

A middle-aged man stood in the doorway.

"_That man from my dream..." _He thought, looking at the man.

"The name's Edward Cornelius Lon, but you can call me Ed. Everyone else does."

Link just sat there quietly, he needed a minute to process everything that happened up to this point.

"You two are lucky that I was in Old Kakariko at the time. If I wasn't, I might have not seen you two on the roadside."

"Yes, and thank you again for taking us in." Malon said to him.

"Think nothing of it Ms. Malon. Now I'll see you two at High Tea." Ed said before he turned to leave the room.

"Is the coast clear?" Navi said from under Links hat, which was sitting on the night table.

"Yes Navi, it is."

"Good."

Navy fluttered around Link.

"Malon." Link started, "what exactly is going on?"

"Well..." She said, trying to find the words.

"From what I see, we are either so far in the past that there is amazing technology, or we are so far in the future that there is amazing technology..." Navi replied, in place of Malon.

"How do you mean?"

"Take a look outside..."

Link did, we walked over to the window. He was in awe at what he saw. On the roads, he saw carriages, rolling around without horses, in the distance, he saw a smoking machine carrying a long train of waggons, and in the air, he saw a large cigar-shaped object with fins flying, albeit slowly, but flying nevertheless!

"Amazing..." was the only word Link could think of to describe what he saw.

Navi and Malon simply nodded in agreement.

"Wait a minute," Link said, confused, "What exactly is _High Tea_?"

* * *

As turns out, _High Tea_meant dinner time. At the head of the table sat Ed, to his left, sat Link and Malon, and to his right, sat a girl, who was Marlene, his daughter.

Marlene, for the most part, kept her eyes glued to her plate, but every once in a while, she would quickly glance up at Link, blush, and dart her gaze back down, hoping that he didn't notice.

Link did notice however. He thought it was cute, so he'd smirk. Malon noticed this to. It made her a bit jealous. In spite of everything going on, no one spoke. The silence was defining, this annoyed Ed. He decided to try to drum up conversation.

"So Link," he started, "those are some... uh... fancy clothes you got there."

"Thank you." He replied.

"They do look a bit tattered though, what do you do that roughen them up?"

"We're adventurers."

"We?" Malon said looking at him, confused.

"Yes, we." He retorted.

"Oh... yeah... adventurers."

Ed found this odd, "she didn't know they were adventurers?" He was just about to quiz them about this behaviour, but then there was a loud knocking on the front door.

"ED!" an aggravated voice screeched from the other side.

Ed just sighed, we knew who it was, "Just come in Fergus," He yelled back, "the door is-" he was cut off by the sound of the front door being opened and slammed shut, "open."

A man, Fergus, walked into the kitchen(which doubled as the dining room), he was lanky, but a bit podgy as well. He had short greasy hair and an outrageous moustache.

Link and Malon glanced at each other, both trying to retain their giggling.

"_Reminds me of Ingo." _They both thought

Fergus had a scowl plastered on his face. He stormed over to where Ed, ignoring everyone else at the table.

"What's this I hear about you taking in a couple of tramps!"

"They are not tramps!" He scolded, "They are adventurers, and they were in trouble, and they are sitting right in front of you!"

Fergus turned and saw Link and Malon. He narrowed is eyes. He Looked at Link, then to Malon, and then back to Link.

"Ed, may I remind you that we aren't doing so well right now. We can't afford to be feeding a couple of 'adventurers.'" he said, doing the air quotes thing.

"Dammit Fergus, we're doing fine!" Ed yelled frustratedly. "Now, we may be in a rough patch for the moment, but we're making it by." He stood up, and with is voice quieting he stated, "Now I don't want to hear any more talk about budget problems, or cutting wages, or sacking a few hands to cut costs, you hear?" He sat back down, "And for the record, I ran the numbers on this ranch before, when you weren't the accountant, and I can do it again. The only reason you're here, is because I promised her that I'd give you a job."

The tension was so thick that you, to use the cliché term, could cut it with a knife.

"Now sit down, your plate is set and made and it's getting cold just sitting there."

Fergus looked down at his plate. He picked it up.

"I'm going to go eat in my room." And with that, Fergus left the room.

For the rest of _High Tea_, no one said a word. Marlene even stopped glancing up at Link. There were a lot of questions on Link's mind.

"_What were all of those objects I saw earlier."_

"_What did Ed mean when he said 'because I promised her,' who's her? Is it Marlene?"_

"_if so, what connection does Fergus and Marlene have?"_

"_Does Marlene like me?"_

Link was lost in thought as he was getting ready for bed later that night. He eventually came to a decision on what he was going to do.

"_I am going to stay here for a while so I can learn what's going on, and maybe I'll learn what all those objects were."_

* * *

_Authors note:_

_Hm... This is getting good. I bet you're all curious about what will happen!_

_Remember to post your thoughts, and reviews!_

_See you all next time!_


	4. Chapter III: Arrangements

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Legend Of Zelda franchise or its characters, but my ideas are still my ideas, so there.

* * *

**Chapter III: Arrangements**

* * *

"Link... Link...Link!" Navi said, trying to wake Link up. "You slept for seven years, how can you still sleep like this!"

Link just turned, burying his face in his pillow.

"_Maybe if I ignore her for long enough, she'll go away."_

"Come on! You're going to miss breakfast!"

The promise of food was always the best way to wake Link up. Link sat up and got dressed.

"_I should start with that next time..."_ Navi thought.

Before Link left the room he turned to Navi.

"Navi, I need you to go on a reconnaissance mission. Go out and find things that might be useful."

Navi just hovered there for a moment. "You sure?"

"Positive."

"okay then..." she flew towards the window, "Are you absolutely positive that you won't need me?"

"Don't worry, I can take care of myself, I'm safe here. Now go."

Navi, without another word, flew out the window.

* * *

Link's eyes nearly popped out of his head and adjoined the food on the plate that sat in front of him. It was the biggest breakfast he had ever seen in his entire life. There was bacon, poached eggs, fried tomatoes, fried mushrooms, fried bread, sausages and mashed potatoes, baked beans, black pudding, white pudding, and a mug of tea.

"_I think I can see why they are in a rough patch... They could save a lot if they ate less..."_ he thought.

"Are you just going to sit there gawking at your breakfast or are you going to eat it?" Ed said with a mouth full of beans and fried bread.

So Link dug in. The food was great. He was getting full though, and he was only half done.

"_Don't... want... to waste... food," _he thought, "_must... keep... shoveling!"_

Link finally finished eating. He was full, very full. He patiently sipped his tea while waiting for everyone to finish.

"Thank you for the breakfast Ed." Malon said when she had finished.

"Think nothing of it." Ed replied, modestly. "Now, where are you two heading next?"

"Actually, I was hoping that we could stay here for a bit," Link had put a lot of thought into this, "We will work, and you won't have to pay us rupees, all we need is room and board."

"It would be nice to stay in one place, even if only for a little while." Malon added, catching on to Link's idea.

Ed scratched his chin. He thought for a bit.

"I guess..." he replied, "do either of you have any prior experience on a farm?"

"I have experience!" Malon replied

"Same here." Link added, remembering the times he had helped Malon finish her work faster so he could hang out with her.

"Alright then." Ed said, standing up. "We're about to start work about now, so Link, you come with me and I'll introduce you to the other workers. Malon, you Marlene will go off to the barn and work with the animals. Everyone ready?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good, now let's go!"

* * *

"Boys, this is Link, he'll be working here for a bit!" Ed announced to all the men in the bunk house.

They all looked at Link, none of them looked impressed.

"No offense boss," one of them started, "but this kid is kinda scrawny..."

Link took offense to that, he didn't show it though.

"Now I know he isn't the most impressive guy in the world..."

Link resented that.

"But at least give him a chance. He seems strong enough, he is an adventurer."

"I'd say so," a voice from the back came, "with all that pretty green clothing, he sure looks like he's into _spelunking_, if you know what I mean."

The bunk house erupted into laughter. Ed shot a stern glance at the men, they clammed up immediately. Ed stared at the man in the back who made the comment.

"Well then, Walter, if you are so keen on making people laugh, perhaps you can entertain Link, seeing as you two are now partners when bucking grain today."

"But-"

"No buts!" he boomed, "Now when I get back from the mechanic shop, I expect to see the grain reaped, bucked, moved, and waiting at the halt. Understand?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good!"

Ed left the bunk house.

"_That guy rely likes to swap between nice-guy and hard-ass."_ Link thought, watching Ed leave.

He turned and saw all the ranch hands glaring at him.

"_Well... this is going to be fun..."_

* * *

_Author's note:_

_Just a short one today. Looks like Link is going to have a rough time with the ranch hands. We'll be checking up on Malon and Marlene next time, as well as seeing how Link fares with the work._

_Remember to write a review. All feedback is highly valued._

_See you next time!_


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